Skip next section What you need to know
What you need to know
- Volkswagen has has terminated most of its collective wage agreements in Germany
- A package of care system reforms has been approved by the Merz cabinet
- Police have raided sites in Germany and other European countries in a crackdown on Hells Angels bikers and a money-laundering network
- All trains stations in Germany are to be (almost) no-alcohol zones from October
This is a roundup of the top stories from and about Germany on Wednesday, September 30, 2026:
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Skip next section BMW plans to reduce senior management by 20%09/30/2026September 30, 2026
BMW plans to reduce senior management by 20%
Another German carmaker, BMW, announced that it plans to simplify its organizational structure and rely more heavily on AI to adapt more quickly to changes in the global market.
To achieve this goal, the company plans to eliminate 20% of its “divisions and associated management roles” by mid-2027.
This change will initially affect relatively senior division heads, though its impact will also be felt at lower management levels. However, it is not linked to a large-scale reduction in headcount, according to BMW.
Earlier this year, BMW announced a voluntary redundancy program for all areas except production.
According to company sources, the total global workforce will be reduced by around 8,000, with many jobs likely to be cut in administration as well as in research and development in Germany.
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https://p.dw.com/p/5NYCvSkip next section Volkswagen terminates almost all collective wage agreements09/30/2026September 30, 2026
Volkswagen terminates almost all collective wage agreements
German automaker Volkswagen has terminated most of its collective wage agreements in Germany, potentially renewing bitter disputes with employee representatives as the company seeks to cut costs.
Following a meeting with employee representatives in Hanover on Wednesday, the company announced that various provisions in the agreements would need to be adjusted in light of cost pressures.
By terminating the agreements by December 31, 2026, Volkswagen aims to open up room for negotiation. The employment security provisions agreed upon in 2024 and set to last until the end of 2030 will not be affected.
German union leaders have expressed their opposition to Volkswagen, accusing the company of declaring “war” on its staff and threatening strikes in response.
“This is a foul blow against the workforce and once again a shameless attempt to reach into employees’ pockets,” said IG Metall union official Thorsten Gröger.
Meanwhile, VW works council chair Daniela Cavallo predicted a “bitter dispute at the turn of the year.”
Earlier this month, the carmaker and unions reached an agreement to eliminate a total of 100,000 jobs across the entire 10-marque group by the end of the decade. This is the largest restructuring in the history of the global auto industry.
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https://p.dw.com/p/5NY95Skip next section READ: Germany’s Deutschlandticket to cost €66.80 from 202709/30/2026September 30, 2026
READ: Germany’s Deutschlandticket to cost €66.80 from 2027
Germany’s nationwide Deutschlandticket will cost €66.80 ($78) per month from January 1, 2027, up from the current €63, transport authorities said on Wednesday.
It is the first price increase to be determined using a new cost-based formula rather than through political negotiations between Germany’s federal and state governments.
Click here to read mooe about why the Deutschlandticket is getting more expensive.
https://p.dw.com/p/5NY7uSkip next section ‘The time for hesitation is over’: SPD eyes judicial review of AfD09/30/2026September 30, 2026
‘The time for hesitation is over’: SPD eyes judicial review of AfD
Matthew Moore in Berlin
The center-left Social Democrats (SPD) have just unveiled a series of measures to bolster democracy, including a call for an “immediate” review of whether the far-right Alternative for Germany party (AfD) should be banned.
The draft paper, which DW has seen, says “the time for hesitation is over.”
The AfD has emerged as the strongest party in two of three recent regional elections. It is also currently leading national polls at around 27%.
Under Germany’s system of “defensive democracy,” political parties can be banned if, according to Article 21 of the Basic Law, they seek to impair or abolish the country’s free democratic basic order, or threaten the existence of the Federal Republic. In previous ban cases, judges has said that proof of an “actively combative, aggressive stance” against democracy is required for a ban to be imposed.
The idea was shaped by the experience of the Nazi era, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi regime dismantled the Weimar Republic’s democratic system and established a dictatorship.
Fast forward to 2026, and the question of whether the AfD meets the legal criteria for a ban is becoming increasingly prominent among politicians, jurists and other experts.
The SPD draft argues that the AfD “systematically attacks our free society, normalizes racism, and discredits democratic institutions.”
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Only three constitutional organs can formally apply for a party-ban ruling: the Bundestag, the Bundesrat or the federal government. Whether the AfD is unconstitutional would then ultimately be decided by the Federal Constitutional Court in Karlsruhe.
The SPD believes there is sufficient support in the Bundesrat to begin examining whether the evidence against the AfD would justify taking the next step.
That distinction is important: an initial review or preparatory process would not itself be a ban proceeding. A formal application would ultimately have to go to the Constitutional Court. The process is expected to take years.
SPD sources are optimistic that the review process could be started by the end of the year. That is the most concrete timeframe I have heard yet, and it’s a clear sign that discussion of an AfD ban is moving from a largely theoretical debate toward a more concrete political and legal process.
https://p.dw.com/p/5NXWbSkip next section A policy turnaround: Germany moves to replenish natural gas reserves09/30/2026September 30, 2026
A policy turnaround: Germany moves to replenish natural gas reserves
Jens Thurau in Berlin
German Economy Minister Katherina Reiche from the center-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU) has officially called on the energy company Sefe (a state-owned enterprise) to replenish Germany’s gas storage facilities, which are already alarmingly low.
A spokesperson for the minister stated that the main reason lies “in the ongoing geopolitical risks.” These risks have existed for some time. The tense situation in the Strait of Hormuz has led to drastically higher energy prices on the world market, causing the private sector to hesitate in purchasing supplies for the winter, waiting for prices to drop.
As a result, according to official figures, the overall fill level of all Germany’s gas storage facilities stands at 57.6%. That is significantly lower than during comparable periods in recent years.
Nevertheless, Reiche had long hesitated before taking the step she has now taken.
A remark made at the government press conference — that Reiche’s move had now been taken “…in consultation with Chancellor Friedrich Merz” — caught the attention of journalists. That’s because the resolute economy minister, who is skeptical of government intervention in the economy in general, has the power to make such a decision on her own.
So speculation was rife: Was she now instructed by the embattled chancellor to now take action? Of course not, government spokesperson Stefan Kornelius was quick to say.
At any rate, the ministry stated that the gas supply for the winter is secure. This is good news for the majority of renters and homeowners in Germany: slightly more than half of all homes are still heated with gas — a fuel that is becoming increasingly expensive.
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https://p.dw.com/p/5NXJZSkip next section Police operation targets distribution of neo-Nazi music09/30/2026September 30, 2026
Police operation targets distribution of neo-Nazi music
Police have searched premises in Germany and several other European countries in an operation targeting the distribution of neo-Nazi music.
Authorities in the northeastern German state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania said raids were carried out across Germany, as well as in Estonia, Italy, Poland and the Czech Republic.
Four of the suspects whose premises were searched are accused of membership in a far-right criminal organization that spreads a “National Socialist (Nazi), antisemitic, racist and dehumanizing ideology” by producing and selling music that promoted it.
Eight further suspects targeted by the operation are believed to have committed hate speech offences linked to the audio recordings produced by the alleged criminal organization.
Another 10 people linked to the suspects also had their homes raided.
More than 390 police officers were deployed during the operation, run by state criminal police office in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania.
https://p.dw.com/p/5NWUmSkip next section Unknown Christmas work by Humperdinck discovered09/30/2026September 30, 2026
Unknown Christmas work by Humperdinck discovered
A “Christmas Lullaby” by composer Engelbert Humperdinck (1854-1921) donated by his great-grandson to his birth city of Siegburg has been confirmed to be a previously unknown work.
“For the music world, the find is a sensation,” city spokesman Jan Gerull told the DPA news agency.
The one-page manuscript with the work for four-voice male choir was given to the Siegburg city archive by Humperdinck’s great-grandson, Lothar Witte, some time ago for its collection related to the composer.
The head of the Musicwerkstatt Siegburg, Christian Ubber, said it had first had to be clarified whether Humperdinck had used and published the work in another context.
“This examination took some time and turned out negative so that it is only now certain that this ‘Christmas Lullaby’ was really unknown up to now,” he said.
According to city spokesman Gerull, the piece, a highly indivualized version of the German Christmas song “Josef lieber, Josef mein,” is not easy to sing owing to the composer’s sometimes complex style.
But, he said, this had not dampened the enthusiasm.
“Siegburg is looking forward to having the piece performed before Christmas,” he said.
https://p.dw.com/p/5NWKtSkip next section Cabinet gives green light to care system reform package09/30/2026September 30, 2026
Cabinet gives green light to care system reform package
The German Cabinet has put its seal of approval on a draft bill put forward by Health Minister Carsten Linnemann on reforming the care system.
The proposed reforms, which will now be put before the parliament, seek to prevent an estimated shortfall of some €8-10 million ($9 million to $11 million) next year.
The reforms were the subject of heated debate between the conservative bloc of Christian Democrats (CDU), to which Linnemann belongs, and its Bavarian sister party the Christian Social Union (CSU), and the junior coalition party the Social Democrats (SPD).
The draft bill builds largely on proposals by former Health Minister Nina Warken, also from the CDU.
No details on the exact content of the bill as it now stands have been released.
https://p.dw.com/p/5NVgXSkip next section Bundeswehr failing to tackle sexual harassment — report09/30/2026September 30, 2026
Bundeswehr failing to tackle sexual harassment — report
The German armed forces are doing too little to crack down on instances of sexual offenses against women in their ranks, according to public service broadcaster ARD.
This comes as the Bundeswehr is actively seeking to recruit women.
Witnesses and victims of such offenses told the ARD’s news magazine REPORT MAINZ that many personnel were scared to report what had happened to them for fear of negative career consequences.
The number of suspected cases of sexual harassment has been rising every year, with 413 reported in 2024 and 472 in 2025, but the number of unreported cases is likely high, according to the ARD.
A spokeswoman from the Defense Ministry told REPORT MAINZ that there had been an “disproportionate rise” in reports of sexual offenses this year.
Women have been permitted to join the Bundeswehr in all capacities for 25 years but still make up just 13.6% of personnel.
The Defense Ministry has, however, rejected the claim by a military historian in the program that the integration of women in the Bundeswehr had so far failed.
Women in the Bundeswehr were “accepted and respected,” and there was no “value and rights free space for any group of people” in the German armed forces, it said.
https://p.dw.com/p/5NVvgSkip next section Cabinet debates care reform after uncertainty09/30/2026September 30, 2026
Cabinet debates care reform after uncertainty
The German Cabinet is to discuss the draft bill put forward by Health Minister Carsten Linnemann to reform the care system after much heated debate between the coalition partners, the Federal Press Office in Berlin has said.
The reform proposals have highlighted divisions between the bloc of conservative Christian Democrats (CDU) with Bavarian sister party the Christian Social Union (CSU), and junior coalition partner the center-left Social Democrats (SPD).
Those divisions made it uncertain up to the last moment whether Wednesday’s meeting was to take place.
https://p.dw.com/p/5NVG9Skip next section Police raid Hells Angels sites in Germany and elsewhere09/30/2026September 30, 2026
Police raid Hells Angels sites in Germany and elsewhere
More than 1,000 police officers have launched raids in Germany and other European countries targeting Hells Angels bikers and an associated money-laundering network.
Duisburg police said the officers would execute a number of arrest warrants and confiscate up to €48.6 million ($55.15 million) of illicit funds.
More than 100 locations were to be searched, with 71 people under investigation.
Searches are being carried out in the states of North Rhine-Westphalia, Rhineland-Palatinate, Baden-Württemberg, Berlin and Bavaria, as well as in Belgium, Bulgaria and the Netherlands.
According to police, those under investigation are suspected of “forming a criminal association, predatory and commercial blackmail, gang and commercial fraud and commercial money-laundering.”
They are also believed to be behind weapons offenses, physical assault and tax avoidance.
The operation is under the supervision of state prosecutors in Duisburg, with the involvement of the State Office for Combating Financial Criminality in North Rhine-Westphalia (LBF).
https://p.dw.com/p/5NV9QSkip next section Coalition in race to put care reform debate to rest09/30/2026September 30, 2026
Coalition in race to put care reform debate to rest
A package of reforms to Germany’s care system put forward by conservative Health Minister Carsten Linnemann remains a source of contention within the coalition.
It remained unclear early on Wednesday whether a planned morning Cabinet meeting to agree on the package called by Linnemann would take place.
The junior coalition partner, the center-left Social Democrats (SPD), opposes any cuts to care services.
Among other things, it has called for a cap on personal contributions to care in retirement homes and financial adjustments to make the division fairer between private and statutory nursing care insurance models.
Both ideas have met with skepticism from Linnemann.
The reform of the system has been made necessary by the growing number of people needing care as the population ages, which has raised costs.
The National Association of Statutory Health Insurance Funds (GKV), which also represents care insurance institutes, estimates a shortfall of €4.4 billion ($5 billion) this year, and €10 billion in 2027.
https://p.dw.com/p/5NUvNSkip next section Welcome to our coverage09/30/2026September 30, 2026
Welcome to our coverage
Guten Tag from DW’s newsroom on the still-running-but-just Rhine River in Bonn!
The conservative/center-left coalition government is still quibbling over proposed reforms to Germany’s care system, with time running out to reach a deal.
It remains to be seen whether the Cabinet will be in a position to approve the package on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, police have targeted a money-laundering network and biker gangs in raids.
And from October, alcohol at all German train stations will only be allowed to be consumed in restaurants
Read on for more on these and other stories.
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